Chapter 101 : Chapter 101
Chapter 101: The Knights (2)
Honestly, I never expected to receive help from Yohan in this way.
I couldn't write about what happened in the Demonic Realm on the Anonymous Bulletin Board because I was worried about my identity being exposed, but it seems Yohan didn't care about such things at all.
No, even if Yohan had been from Winter Castle, I don't think he would have cared.
Yohan was that kind of guy.
Someone who acts if it's the right thing to do, even if it brings harm to himself.
'He hasn't changed.'
Thanks to the warning from the guy who doesn't hesitate to show goodwill to others, a ray of light was shining on Winter Castle, which had been covered by a dark curtain.
I never thought that saving Yohan would turn out this way…….
'Maybe I really should live a good life.'
Living a good life in this harsh world wasn't easy, but it didn't feel bad to be rewarded for saving someone.
My thoughts didn't last long.
Buuuuuuuuung────
The war horn blared repeatedly, and the cavalry, as if one body, brilliantly changed formation and devastated the demonic beast legion.
No matter how strong the demonic beasts of the Demonic Realm were, they couldn't withstand the charge of the Empire's proud cavalry in the wide-open plain.
This was not a hunt, but a war.
The demonic beasts of the Demonic Realm might be strong individually, but when the numbers reached the scale of a war, the formations, ranks, tactics, and strategies created by humans were bound to completely overwhelm the existing dynamics.
War was that kind of thing.
-Kkieeeeek!
-Keong! Keo-heong!
The situation changed rapidly.
The demonic beasts attacking Winter Castle now were beasts that had been forcibly pushed forward by the presence of Great Stone Mountain, Mogron.
Therefore, when another fear arose, the demonic beasts instinctively began to turn their backs and flee.
-Kkuu! Kkuuuu!
-Krururu…… Kruru!
The fleeing demonic beasts and the demonic beasts still charging towards Winter Castle got tangled up, and the demonic beasts' formation completely collapsed.
The demonic beasts were already in a state of being surrounded by Winter Castle and the cavalry, and now they were even tangling with each other, so there was no way they could fight properly.
After that, it was literally no different from a ruthless massacre.
-The demonic beasts are fleeing! Calmly maintain formation and advance!
Perhaps he used the Magic of the Celestial Sound, as the shout of the one who appeared to be the commander reached all the way here, a considerable distance away.
'Hm?'
Just then, among the cavalry slaughtering the demonic beasts, the sight of one particular cavalry unit caught my eye.
Not only was the armor they wore different from the other cavalry, but their destructive power in breaking through the demonic beasts was also overwhelmingly incomparable to the other cavalry.
'They aren't a simple cavalry unit.'
And what that fact implied was extremely clear.
If it was a military group superior to the Empire's proud cavalry, there was only one possibility.
'The Knights.'
Before long, the crest on the flag they were displaying was faintly revealed in the distance.
Although I couldn't see it clearly due to the distance, I could at least tell that the crest was a griffin.
As far as I knew, there was only one order of knights that used the griffin as its symbol.
'The Griffin Knights.'
After the appearance of the Destruction Dragon, most of the military groups that had existed on the Lagna Continent suffered great damage.
The three knight orders that rose to prominence in the meantime were the ones symbolizing the unicorn, the griffin, and the kraken, respectively.
Commonly known as the Three Divine Beasts Knights.
The Griffin Knights that had just appeared were one of those Three Divine Beasts Knights.
'Even the Griffin Knights came.......'
From what I heard on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, the Griffin Knights are one of the most powerful knight orders in the Empire.
The fact that the Empire dispatched such a knight order from the Imperial Capital to the far north meant that the Imperial Household was taking this situation very seriously.
'No...... thinking about it differently, it means the influence of the person who saw Yohan's post on the Anonymous Bulletin Board is that great.'
Just who was the person who saw Yohan's post and reported this fact to the Empire, for the Imperial Household to react so swiftly and seriously.
Several conditions applied here.
First, they must have had considerable connections to be able to deliver this information directly to the Empire, and they must have been a person of considerable standing for their words to have credibility.
'Maybe even a noble.'
Among the players, quite a few had obtained noble titles from the Empire and other nations, so if the one who reported it was an Imperial noble, it was plausible enough.
'Hmm.......'
I was curious about who had requested support for Winter Castle from the Empire, but unfortunately, I couldn't find out right here and now.
Even if I did find out, it was pretty useless information for the time being.
“What are you thinking so hard about?”
Edric approached as I was blankly watching the battle taking place at Winter Castle.
“No, it's nothing.”
“Then let's get moving. It's good that support has arrived, but we still have a job to do, don't we?”
Even though the tide of the battle had already turned, Edric seemed to have no intention of stopping the operation he had originally planned.
“Can't we rest a bit?”
“I wanted to as well, but the operation you devised is too brilliant. It's too good to just let it go to waste.”
“I was just saying.”
“Haha, you're joking.”
I said it lightly, but in truth, it was difficult for me to carry out the operation in my current situation.
It would have been different if support hadn't come from the Empire, but in this situation, brazenly firing my gun was a rather risky act in many ways.
That was inevitable, as I couldn't be sure that there were no players among the reinforcements from the Empire.
In particular, some of the conspicuous figures among the cavalry were strongly suspected of being players.
'It would be too naive to assume there are no players in a situation like this.'
No, with a cavalry force of that size, it was right to assume that there were definitely players.
The pretext for refusing the operation wasn't that difficult.
Mages in this world always had a plausible excuse.
“I really can't.”
“Why is that?”
“It seems I won't be able to use any more magic today. It will be difficult to continue the mission.”
“……Hm? Ah, dear. Is that so.”
Edric nodded his head.
“Are you alright?”
“I think I'll be fine as long as I don't push myself to use magic anymore.”
“Hmm, my apologies. You're so exceptional that I sometimes forget you're a mage.”
“It's alright.”
Since I had been showing myself using magic without any significant price until now, it wasn't particularly strange to suddenly show this side.
Rather, if one thought about it normally, it was natural that I should have been suffering from the price of magic long ago.
“Please don't tell the other squad members. I don't want to make them worry unnecessarily.”
“Mm, I understand. I'll be careful.”
Edric said that and turned his gaze towards where the special task force members were.
“Are you going to stay?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“No...... I just thought you'd say you'd continue the mission, even if it was just you.”
“Haha, even I am not that reckless. Above all, I think it's better to protect you all right now.”
This old man, while saying that, didn't he secretly want to rest a bit?
Of course, that thought remained just a thought, but it was true that I was suspicious.
'Well...... whatever.'
What Edric was thinking wasn't a very important issue.
The important thing was how the war currently taking place would end.
“……”
I continued to watch the demonic beasts that still filled the snowfield.
Endlessly, continuously.
***
Screams and bizarre cries of demonic beasts echoed from all directions.
Strong evidence that the end of the long, long war was approaching.
The demonic beasts remaining near Winter Castle were now largely of two types.
Demonic beasts that were already corpses.
And demonic beasts that were about to become corpses.
After the Empire's cavalry routed the demonic beasts once, Winter Castle joined in earnest, and the great counteroffensive began.
-Kaaaaaak!
-Advance! Push them back!
Winter Castle in front.
Cavalry behind.
Amidst the attacks pouring in from all directions, all the demonic beast legion, which couldn't even form a proper formation, could do was struggle futilely or flee.
If the King of the Demonic Realm had been here, the situation would have been different, but Great Stone Mountain, Mogron had already returned to his domain due to Albino's magic.
Of course, having been awakened from his slumber, he would still remain a threat to Winter Castle, but for now, it was a time to be glad for having overcome the immediate crisis.
“We've arrived. Everyone's worked hard.”
The situation was resolved quickly like that, and we were finally able to drag our exhausted bodies back to Winter Castle.
“Ugh…… how long has it been since we've been home.”
“Tell me about it.”
It was Conlan and Albino, who just a while ago would have shuddered at the sight of themselves considering Winter Castle as home,
but now, as if such a fact didn't even cross their minds, they literally collapsed as soon as they reached the barracks.
“……I'm going to sleep first.”
Alicia also couldn't last long and passed out without even washing.
It had been that much of a forced march, and a series of difficult battles.
In the meantime, I suppressed the strong urge to collapse and turned on the Anonymous Bulletin Board.
It was to take a closer look at what information was in the post Yohan had left.
──────────────
A large-scale wave has occurred in the northern Demonic Realm. Be careful.
──────────────
──────────────
It's just as the title says.
A large-scale wave occurred in the Demonic Realm in the northern region, and it is marching straight towards Winter Castle.
If Winter Castle falls, there is a high possibility that the damage will spread to other places.
Everyone, please be careful.
──────────────
-Anonymous12 : ?? Crazy, a wave occurred?
-EasyLife : Super emergency!! Gotta bounce quick ㅌㅌ
-Knight Commander : Huh...... Roger that. Thanks for the valuable info.
└Anonymous55 : Kya, so cool.
└CyberRekka9 : Look at that presence lol
└Dr. Kim : He really is cool.
-Jiha : If it's in the north, it's far, so it should be fine here.
I felt one of the comments on Yohan's post particularly stood out.
It was a comment written by the Knight Commander.
'Hm.'
Was it the Knight Commander who delivered the news about the King of the Demonic Realm to the Empire?
'It's definitely possible.'
Considering the various things like status and position that Knight Commander usually hinted at, it was a sufficiently plausible story.
As I said before, to deliver Yohan's information to the Empire, it had to be someone with considerable status and trust.
And looking at the timing of when the support from the Empire actually began, it was highly likely to be someone who actually held considerable authority within the Empire.
Status, trust, authority.
'Above all, if I consider the title of Knight Commander.......'
Why was it?
That the Griffin Knights were coming to mind right now.
Players, on average, possessed a higher level than the natives of this world, and naturally, if it was Knight Commander, who was considered a named user among the Anonymous Bulletin Board users, it wouldn't be strange for him to hold the position of commander of the Griffin Knights.
'If that's really the case, things could get pretty annoying.'
I could only hope that this ominous feeling would end as just a groundless fear.
***
The premonition called ominousness always turned out to be frighteningly accurate.
Perhaps it was a type of strong survival instinct that the animal called human had developed while surviving for a long time.
If there was one unfortunate thing, it would be that there was a limit to what I could do amidst that ominousness.
Now was just such a time.
The war that had driven Winter Castle to the brink of ruin was almost over, and just as we were about to finally greet peace.
A sudden change always had a way of arriving without warning.
Kung!
With a rough sound, Edric, looking somewhat urgent, burst into the barracks.
“Vell.”
“What is it, all of a sudden?”
“This isn't the time for such talk. Someone is looking for you.”
“Me? Who?”
And, in Edric's words that followed, I instinctively knew that my guess, which I had hoped was wrong, was not just a guess.
“The Griffin Knights.”